The Impact of GDPR on Marketing

What is GDPR? What rules apply to the marketing industry? How does it change the world of advertisements? You can find answers to these and similar questions in our upcoming blog post.

GDPR stands for "General Data Protection Regulation". This European Union regulation came into effect in May 2018, establishing data protection and processing rules for organisations and businesses operating within the EU. The goal of GDPR is to protect individuals' personal data and ensure the free flow of data within the European Union. The regulation includes strict provisions regarding the collection, storage, processing, and transmission of data, as well as the protection of the rights of data subjects. Data controllers (organisations managing data) have obligations to comply with the data protection regulation, and serious penalties can be imposed for violations.

GDPR explicitly states that the processing of personal data from EU residents is regulated by GDPR guidelines. Thus, personal data collected for marketing purposes also falls under these rules.

According to GDPR, personal data is considered any information that can be used to identify a person. Personally identifiable information is information that does not make individuals completely anonymous and can be linked to a real person. Therefore, GDPR protects names, email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, and other such data often used by marketers.

Remarketing, commonly known as targeted advertising, involves collecting data on consumer online behaviour using cookies and other tracking technologies. Subsequently, this data is used to display personalised advertisements to consumers on other websites they visit.

Obtaining consent poses a significant challenge for companies relying on remarketing advertisements. Due to reluctance to give consent, many consumers may refuse to provide it. According to GDPR, consumers have the right to access, correct, delete, and restrict the processing of their data. Essentially, consumers can request the deletion of their personal data or restriction of its use for retargeting purposes. These rights can adversely affect retargeting advertisements, as they allow consumers to opt out of such data usage.

Recipient consent is always necessary. This is usually obtained when someone subscribes to a specific newsletter. It is important to emphasize that GDPR does not in any way prohibit email marketing. GDPR is not against businesses; it pursues a consumer-friendly goal. An effective marketing email should ideally provide value to the recipient and be something they would otherwise want to receive. What GDPR does is clarify the conditions for consent and requires organisations to request affirmative consent for communication. It also needs to facilitate an easy way for people to change their minds and unsubscribe. The GDPR process is only violated if a marketing email does not provide an option to unsubscribe, if it is sent to someone who has never subscribed, or if it promotes a service unrelated to the recipient's subscribed service.

It's essential to note that even when using personal data collected elsewhere (such as purchasing email addresses, browsing the internet), GDPR must be complied with, and consent for the use of processed data must be obtained.

The strict data protection requirements of GDPR can have a significant impact on targeted advertising, especially in the case of Google Ads and Facebook Ads.

One of the main impacts is the restriction of data collection. According to GDPR, only data necessary for a specific purpose can be collected. As a result, marketers have less information, which can reduce the precision and personalisation of ads.

The regulation also imposes additional restrictions on the use of cookies and tracking technologies. This can affect tracking user online behaviour and profiling. Requesting consent from users can sometimes cause inconvenience, and some users may refuse consent, further reducing the quantity and quality of available data.

However, if marketers respect data protection rules and ensure transparency, this can increase user trust, positively impacting the effectiveness of advertisements. Nevertheless, marketers will have more limited opportunities for personalised targeting.

Ultimately, the introduction of GDPR poses challenges for targeted advertising but also provides an opportunity for marketers to strengthen trust and transparency with their users. The effectiveness of advertisements depends on how successfully marketers adapt to these new conditions.